


Behind the Glass

by lizwontcry



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:07:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29114247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizwontcry/pseuds/lizwontcry
Summary: Over the Sunday morning paper, Grissom and Sara come to peace on a painful moment in their past.
Relationships: Gil Grissom/Sara Sidle
Kudos: 13





	Behind the Glass

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this a while back and was inspired to finish it. Because I miss them. And admit it--you do, too.

2016

It's a rare drizzly day in the desert, and they've decided to stay inside and read all day. They've only been in the new house for a few weeks and both of them have been too busy to have a stay-cation, as they consider it. Sara is looking at the Metropolitan section of the newspaper while Grissom is reading the sports section--the baseball box scores, to be specific.

Grissom is happily reading yet another article about his beloved Cubs winning the World Series--he never gets tired of seeing that headline. Just as he's about to tear out the article and hang it next to the others, Sara gasps and drops her section back on their new kitchen table. Since this particular gasp, Grissom knows, is usually preserved for when she comes across a dead body--or one of his prized cockroaches that escaped its enclosure--Grissom is alarmed.

"What happened? Did the Ramones go back on tour or something?" Grissom jokes, but Sara does not look like she's in the mood for fun and games, even when it comes to her favorite band of all time.

"No. No, Griss... Dr. Lurie was arrested in Arizona. And then he was sentenced to life in prison--without parole," she says, reading from the paper. 

Grissom, who just one minute ago felt like everything was right in the world--he's in his new house with his wife, their Boxer puppy Indiana resting at their feet, with no obligations for the entire day (not to mention the Cubs had recently won the World Series), feels a deep pain in his stomach. With just with that one word, that one _person._

"Wow. I haven't thought about that name in years," Grissom says, shaking his head.

"Now, I know that's not true. You never forget about the ones that get away," Sara replies, and Grissom doesn't know what to say to that. She's right, of course. He never forgot about Dr. Vincent Lurie. Not only because he got away, but the specifics of that case has haunted him since the second Dr. Lurie and his lawyer left the room, and that was, what... 12 years ago now? Grissom would make some dumb entomologist joke about time flying but it seems inappropriate in this case.

Not to mention the fact that Sara _was_ the one who got away. He still can't believe he let her go for so long. What was he thinking? For the past year, Grissom has been trying to make up for lost time with her. Sara's working so hard lately as the CSI director and he tries to make life easier for her whenever possible. He sometimes misses life on the sea, but he is committed to making it work in Vegas. He's committed to Sara. 

It's always been Sara.

"That's true," Grissom agrees. "I didn't forget him. I was so mad when he got away with murdering Debbie and her lover. He should have gone down for that. What'd he do this time? I can take a guess."

"He moved to Phoenix in 2009 and there's been at least 3 nurses who have turned up dead in the hospital where he worked," Sara reads. "They were all sliced with surgical precision. They finally caught him because they found his semen on the sheets of the last one. He got sloppy." Sara tries to sound like this isn't bothering her, but Grissom knows it hurts her as much as it does him. 

"Well..." Grissom says, and can't seem to finish the sentence. He's glad the evil son of a bitch is going to pay for his crimes, and he hopes that Lurie still thinks about Debbie and the destruction he caused. There's a different feeling, though, that he can't quite put his finger on. It's not guilt, exactly. He knows that he and the team--Catherine, Warrick, Sara, Brass, and everyone else in the lab--did all they could to find Debbie's killer at the time. Grissom did a triple shift to scour the house from top to bottom. Lurie walked away, but it wasn't because they missed anything.

"Yeah." She looks uncomfortable. Grissom takes his wife's hand, and she grips it maybe a little harder than necessary, and Grissom knows why. Somehow they've never talked about this before, but it's probably time.

"I know you were there, Sara." He doesn't have to elaborate.

"I know you knew," Sara says softly. She looked down at the paper, avoiding his eyes. Which breaks his heart a little, but he deserves it. It's been a long time, but he's still upset with his old self for what he did back then.

"I didn't at first. I thought it was just an incredible coincidence that I was behind the glass, listening to you say the things I've wanted to whisper in your ear for years. And you were confessing your heart out to an alleged murderer instead of me. Obviously you didn't know I was there. But after Lurie left and you were still just sitting, contemplating your soul or whatever, Catherine came up and asked me what happened--she had an appointment and missed the interrogation. She said you had told her I would fill her in. So..." Sara shrugs. 

"Oh, Sara. I know it's not an excuse but I was nearly delirious at that point. I was on my third shift, I hadn't slept in almost 48 hours. It doesn't matter, I know. The bottom line is that it was disgustingly cowardly of me to say those things to him, to act that way in front of you. I don't know. I'm so sorry."

Sara lets him hold her hand and she finally meets his eyes again. 

He remembers how hard it was back then. How hard it was to know he was hopelessly in love with Sara Sidle, but he couldn't do anything about it. He was her supervisor, she was his employee. Not to mention he used to be her teacher and she was his student. And Sara had been so passionate about everything; he loved that about her but it also terrified him. He had truly been an idiot.

"I know, Griss. I get it. I didn't understand for a long time. I honestly went home and cried for hours that night; I had no idea what to do but I did know I had to move on. If you couldn't be honest with me, we shouldn't have been together."

"I would have been awful for you at that time, Sara."

"Of course I know that now, but I didn't understand at the time. If you felt that way about me, why couldn't we just be together? I would have made it work. I was so stubborn that I really believed that. And then... with Nick's kidnapping... it all became moot anyway."

Nick's kidnapping had indeed been the catalyst for Grissom to wake up and realize what was really important to him. Once he knew Nick was going to be okay, he had gone up to Sara right there in the hospital and asked to speak to her alone. She had reluctantly agreed to go on one date and listen to what he had to say. 

Obviously it hadn't been smooth sailing--their marriage was short-lived, the divorce was messy. But as Sara said, it's all moot now. They're together. They're figuring it out. They are all in.

"Well. At least Lurie is where he belongs now," Grissom says. He moves his thumb over the fragile skin of Sara's hand. She grins at him, and his heart--as cliché as it sounds--skips a beat. He always loved Sara's radiant smile. "And so are we."

Sara gets up and comes over to sit in his lap. He puts his arms around her waist as she kisses him softly. It's another mellow Sunday morning, and Grissom doesn't want to be anywhere else but here.


End file.
